Greeneyed Girl
by Diva-esque
Summary: A chance encounter in Tokyo sets Remus Lupin back on course.


**Green-eyed Girl**

_by aishuu_

* * *

Remus Lupin had never been particularly fond of traveling, but his profession required that he be mobile. If he hadn't been affected with lycanthropy, he might have quit. Sometimes he longed to find somewhere he could call home, put up his feet and relax, but knew that was unlikely to ever happen. His curse made him unwelcome everywhere; it was best to keep moving on.

Japan was just one stop among one hundred. He used a translation spell so he could speak the language, but that didn't make him fit in. Everywhere he went, he was met by stares. He was too tall, too white, too European. He didn't belong among the dark-skinned, small people that called the island nation their home.

He could tell what they were thinking: _foreigner, stranger... you are not one of us._ The people were polite, in a distant sort of way, but as soon as he finished this job he intended to wipe the dust from his shoes and never return. They weren't persecuting him, but they were not welcoming.

Remus was starting to really hate Tokyo.

He was eating in a small cafe located somewhere in a trendy part of the city. He didn't stand out quite as much since there were other westerners there, but his battered clothing was at odds with the flashy and colorful designs most of the denizens were sporting. Fashion was king here, and he was a pauper. He sipped at his tea – green tea, not the strong English breakfast tea he preferred – vowing that he would head on his way to the Apparation point as soon as the night fell. Due to timezone differences, it was only available at night, and he had been too ill previously to leave.

It was a sign how lost in his thoughts he was that he didn't notice the presence of another person. Carelessness like that would have gotten him killed during the War, but it was over. "Is anyone sitting here?" a voice asked in pleasant Japanese.

He glanced up, surprised to see a slender Japanese teen standing in front of him. Occasionally another tourist had approached him for company, but this was the first time one of the Japanese had done so. He knew he was staring and that was rude, but this girl merited a second look.

She was pretty, but the light was dim enough that he couldn't see her features very well – still there was no way he could miss her clothes. She was wearing a brilliantly patterned red and orange dress – if one could choose to call it that. The skirt barely covered her, leaving most of her long legs bare, and the top had a keyhole cut, exposing a generous amount of cleavage. Heavy black combat boots, paired with gloves and a beret, competed the off-beat ensemble. He wondered if she was a hooker.

"No," he said after a moment. He decided he didn't care if she was trying to rope him into something shady. Right now, he needed a touch of company. The full moon of two nights before still hadn't shaken itself out of his system, and he wanted to remind himself he was human, not just a werewolf.

She slid into the seat across from him, waving at the waitress for service. She ordered some kind of sweet juice, and then turned her attention back to him."I know I'm being awfully forward, but I thought you looked lonely," the girl said. She held out a hand encased in a red-satin glove. "I'm Sumeragi Hokuto."

He took it cautiously, and was surprised at her strong grip. Somewhere along the way, she had learned how to shake hands right. "Remus Lupin."

"So, Lupin-san, where are you from?" she asked.

"Here and there. I was born in England, went to school in Scotland, and since then have traveled to just about every part of the world."

"For work?" she asked.

"Yes. I'm... I guess you would call me an exterminator. I take care of all sorts of pests," he said.

"Like oni?" she asked, smiling a bit. He tried not to jerk in his seat too noticeably, but she laughed. "I can see your ofuda," she said, pointing to a pocket where a piece was hanging out. "You're not one of the regular set around here, so I was curious."

He squinted at her. "Are you a witch?"

The laugh she let loose was closer to a cackle, but there was nothing malicious in it. "Hardly. I've been trained in some onmyoujutsu, but I'm just a dabbler. My brother's the real star."

He relaxed. The Japanese magical community was different than Europe's. It had sprung from different traditions, and not even the westernization of the world had shaken it as the roots. From what his studies taught him, the community was less secretive than England, and less organized. That didn't mean he wanted to encounter any of the major players, because rumor had it that some of the top onmyouji could rival Dumbledore.

"I'm sure you underestimate yourself, Ms. Sumeragi," he said.

She shrugged. "I know my strengths. So tell me, Lupin-san, what brings you to Japan?"

He told her about the contract he'd taken to catch a kitsune that had been troubling a small shrine located two hours from the city. She listened attentively for several minutes, asking questions in the right places. Somehow it segued into his travels in general, and she ate up the stories of other parts of the world he'd visited. He told her about how he'd killed a vampire in the catacombs of France, but she was distracted by the romance of Paris.

"I'd love to visit," she said. "It's the best place in the world to go clothes shopping."

"I wouldn't know," he replied. "Are you planning on going there someday?"

"Maybe." She sighed, and then looked sad for a moment before shaking her head, shaking off her melancholy mood. "Probably not. I've things I need to do here."

"Are they important enough to give up your dreams for?" He was always envious of those who weren't limited by lycanthropy.

She swirled the straw in her glass, causing the ice cubes to clink against the sides. "Haven't you ever met someone who's... special? Whose fate matters more than the rest of the world's combined?" she asked.

He tried not to think of James, lying dead, betrayed by his friends. James who hadn't trusted him enough to make him the secret keeper, and thus had been defeated. "Yes," he answered. "I knew someone like that."

He would not think of Harry, the child he hadn't seen in a decade, the Boy Who Lived.

Hokuto didn't notice his distraction, her own thoughts turning inwards. She spoke slowly, more for herself than for his ears. "My brother's like that. My brother needs me, and if he doesn't have my support, I don't know if there will be a world left to dream of."

They were quiet for a long moment before he found a response to that. "Did he asked you to?"

"No, he didn't. He wouldn't," she said. "He doesn't think he matters as much as I know he does. He's an innocent, one of those really good people, the ones there's too few of. I want to protect him because he doesn't know enough to protect himself."

It should have sounded ridiculous, this teenage girl vowing to keep someone else safe, but Remus remembered others oaths he'd made. Even if the ones who he'd made them to weren't alive, he should keep his word. In this world, his word was all he possessed.

She didn't see how she'd affected him. Instead, she glanced at her watch. "I've got to get moving. I need to see how my brother's date went." She winked at him before plopping money down, covering his bill as well as her own. He tried to protest, but she waved it off. "My clan's more money than it could ever spend." She was polite enough not to say anything about his ragged appearance.

"Thank you," he said, offering her a smile. "It's kind of you."

She grinned back at him. "You have a beautiful smile. You should try doing it more often. It was nice meeting you, Lupin-san."

Hokuto leaned forward across the table to shake his hand again, and for the first time, he caught sight of her eyes. The light in the restaurant was poor, and he hadn't noticed before. The girl's eyes were green. He'd seen the same color only twice before – on Lily and Harry Potter.

He barely remembered telling her farewell. She said something about looking her up in Kyoto, and he mouthed a vague desire to do so if he was free. His words were empty, though, because he had something else he needed to do. Remus Lupin didn't believe in fortunetelling, but he understood that there were times higher powers than he understood were at work.

Or maybe he was just looking for justification for doing what he wanted, and had been afraid to. He thought of the note in his pocket from Dumbledore, inviting him to become a teacher at Hogwarts. He'd been delaying his response, but as soon as he could, he would be returning to England.

Remus Lupin had promises to keep. 


End file.
